John F. Dequine Award for 2013:

Runner Up, Dequine Award:

Kimberly I. Bonvechio, R. Eric Sawyers, Erin Leone and Steve Crawford. Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission

Title: Increasing the Cost-effectiveness of Florida’s Freshwater Fisheries Long-term Monitoring Program.

– plaque and $50 check; certificate for co-authors

1st Place, Dequine Award:
J. Wesley Neal. Department of Wildlife, Fisheries & Aquaculture, Mississippi State University

Title: Comparison of Diploid and Triploid Largemouth Bass Growth and Maturation in Puerto Rico.

 – plaque and $100 check

Best Subunit:

North Carolina State University

From faculty advisor Dr. James Rice:

The North Carolina Subunit is a great pleasure to work with. In addition to participating in the AFS at the Chapter, Division and Parent Society levels, the Subunit is active in a variety of education and outreach activities. These include judging elementary school science fairs, speaking to classes, working with 4-H and the Boy Scouts, conducting numerous cane pole fishing events, and coordinating and overseeing the fisheries portion of the field competition at the annual Southeastern Wildlife Conclave. The Subunit raises funds that provide travel scholarships for undergraduates, women and minorities, and graduate students to attend meetings.

Best Poster Award:

First Author: Hilary Glenn (Louisiana State University). A comparison of reproductive potential of red snapper natural and artificial habitats in the northern Gulf of Mexico

– plaque; certificates for co-authors (Dannielle Kulaw and James H. Cowan, Jr.)

Best Student Presentation Award:

2nd place, Best Student Presentation:

First Author: William Pruitt (University of Georgia). Use of occupancy models to determine seasonal distribution and habitat use of stocked robust redhorse in the upper reaches of the Ocumulgee River, Georgia

– plaque; certificates for co-authors (James T. Peterson and Cecil A. Jennings)

1st place, Best Student Presentation:

First Author: Tim O’Donnell (College of Charleston). Effects of cold winters on the genetic diversity of spotted seatrout in Charleston Harbor, SC

– plaque; certificates for co-authors (Michael R. Denson and Tanya Darden)

Additional Plaques:

Resolution (Program & Meeting Chair, Host Chapter):

General Meeting Chair: Shane Boring (plaque)
Program Chair: Chris McDonough (plaque)
Local Arrangements Chair: Marcel Reichert (plaque)
Fund Raising Chairs: Amy Dukes and Leo Lentsch (plaques)
Finance Chairs: Tanya Darden and Cathy Marion (plaques)

Outgoing President Plaque (2013 – 2014): Michael S. Allen

Special Recognition:

Resolution: Recognition and Appreciation for the Work of Dr. David W. Willis

WHEREAS, the all-too-short career of Dr. David W. Willis, better known as Dave, has had outsized beneficial influence on modern freshwater fisheries management in North America; and

WHEREAS, Dave’s mentorship of more than 50 graduate students and countless undergraduate students enabled them to become leaders themselves in fisheries management and fisheries education throughout North America, including strong influences here in the Southern Division; and

WHEREAS, Dave’s published work, totaling more than 250 papers in the scientific literature, has helped to improve the way that we look at fisheries assessment and management, particularly in the areas of fish condition and fish population structure, the assessment of sportfish populations, and the effective management of impoundments large and small; and

WHEREAS, Dave’s contributions to fisheries education, through his tireless work to produce fisheries textbooks and references books such as Fisheries Techniques, Case Studies in Fisheries Conservation and Management, Standard Methods for Sampling North American Freshwater Fishes, and Small Impoundment Management in North America has shaped the education of an entire generation of fisheries scientists, including in our own Division; and

WHEREAS, Dave’s gentle and caring nature made him an outstanding mentor, teacher, colleague, and friend to so many of us in the fisheries profession; now therefore

BE IT RESOLVED, that the membership of the Southern Division of the American Fisheries Society, assembled here in Charleston, South Carolina on this 24^th day of January 2014, awards Dave Willis the first-ever Southern Division “Amazing Career” Award, in recognition of Dave’s exceptional personal and career contributions that have greatly benefited fisheries education, fisheries science, and fisheries management in our Division, throughout North America, and even throughout the world.An award plaque and a copy of this resolution were sent both to the Willis Family and to the Department of Natural Resources Management at South Dakota State University, which Dave Willis headed in recent years.

SDAFS thanks the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation for their efforts to host the 67th Annual Conference of the Southeastern Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies in October 2013.

 

*Gavel Plaques from BJ Tees, San Marcos, Texas